April Retreat: Sharon Salzberg on the Five Hindrances

Last week I had the privilege of attending some of the taping* of the April Tricycle Retreat: Sharon Salzberg on the Five Hindrances.

The Five Hindrances are classically described as negative mental states that interfere with meditation. Sharon Salzberg in this retreat will speak of how they play out in our lives generally as well. They are translated in different ways, but generally speaking they are:

craving, including attachment or clinging to sensual and other pleasures

aversion, including anger and resntment

sleepiness, inclduing boredom and laziness

restlessness, including fear and anxiety

doubt, lack of confidence and mistrust of the teachings

The taping went very well and many thanks to the New York Insight Meditation Center for hosting us! Sharon Salzberg had just returned from her Real Happiness book tour (which paid off—the book made it to the New York Times bestseller list) and we thank her from taking time from her demanding schedule to spend so much time with us! Sharon Salzberg is very active on Twitter and is worth following, as is New York Insight! Our thanks again to them both. And be sure to stop by tricycle.com in April for the Five Hindrances Retreat! The current retreat for March is Pamela Gayle White and Khedrub Zangmo on Letting Go.

* Taping? There were no tapes involved. For some amazing graphs on changing media in the audio world, check this out. There’s also a graph on how digital downloads have been a boon for the singles market. CD singles never took off.